Micro-Market Snapshot: Los Feliz/Silver Lake

LOS FELIZ -- A quick snapshot of the housing market in Los Feliz/Silver Lake: Mixed, but still quite strong in the $1 million-and-below price range. On "brokers' caravan", LA Land popped into eight open houses with local local realtor Eugene Ridenour of Prudential California Realty (more about specific houses in a later post). Only three of those homes were priced under $1 million, and one of those was already gone: it drew four bids in three days on the market.

"Price points under a million are selling quickly," Ridenour said, and inventory in that price range remains tight. "Once you get to the $1.5 million range, there is a lot more to choose from," he said, and properties are tending to sit on the market. At that price point, "There are still a lot of overpriced homes that aren't moving."

He senses hestitation creeping into buyer psychology: "The number of 'ready-to-buy' buyers is down. Buyers are not eager to buy -- not with all the nay-sayers out there. I really feel the media is doing a disservice to the market."

Foreclosures? "We don't see a lot of foreclosures around here," he says. "If someone's waiting to buy that $1 million foreclosure, it's not going to happen."

Bargains? No longer in once modest Atwater Village: "That neighborhood used to be a $500,000 neighborhood, max." Not so any more: a single-story home there sold for over $1 million last year.

About Eugene: Grew up in the area, attended John Marshall High (where "Grease" was filmed) and USC, is part owner of the downtown bar "Library Bar."